Letter: Petitions and recall

On March 15, MLA Dan Ashton rose in the legislature and presented Penticton’s two petitions on recall and electoral reform stating that he had 5,600 names of voters requesting more accountability in civic government.

He will continue working behind the scenes on this.

Additionally, Penticton council has prepared a resolution on recall for the Southern Interior Local Government Association in preparation for their convention the last weekend in April.

Someone, likely the Mayor of Penticton, will speak to the recall resolution. Then it will be debated amongst the representatives of approximately 39 towns and cities in the Interior. If the recall resolution passes the debate it will be forwarded to the Union of BC Municipalities with the request that it be added to the agenda for 2017.

The petition prepared by city council reads as follows: WHEREAS constituents may believe local government elected officials are in breach of integrity and/or eroding public confidence; WHEREAS the recently extended term of office for local government elected officials in British Columbia negatively affects the ability of the local electorate to vote for change in their local government; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that UBCM request the Province of British Columbia amend legislation to include a recall process for local government elected officials.

Although endorsed by UBCM, the province has taken the position that there are already disqualification provisions in the Community Charter and therefore no action is required.

The electors are not satisfied with a general election every four years to give voice to their concerns. Approximately 3,000 elector’s signatures have been collected in the City of Penticton to request recall legislation for local government officials. Given this significant number, the City of Penticton supports their constituents request for recall legislation.

Elections are the best time to bring issues to the forefront. The provincial election is in May. It won’t be long before candidates appear like magic asking for your support. It is now up to us. We can make this an election issue in the coming provincial election.

Attend the all-candidates meetings ask each candidate to respond to questions on recall. Ask them if they support recall of civic politicians? Ask them if they are prepared to support Elections B.C. supervised civic elections. Ask them if elected what will they do and how hard will they work to make this a reality.